SG: Innocent Bystander #12 A Few Explanations (2/3)

[Whitney Taylor]

Continued from Part 1...


*****


Mina and Simone had almost conveyed the fully inflated spiky pufferfish to the aquarium with the aid of an abandoned shirt when she realized that Laylah had been talking to her. The two baristas exchanged an alarmed look, and then heaved the fish into the aquarium shirt and all. Mina straightened her uniform, wiping fish slime off on it in the process. "Yes, Ma'am???" With great willpower, she resisted the urge to adjust her eyepatch.


"I do appreciate initiative, in certain situations. However, it is a quality I prefer to be leavened with trust."


Mina gulped.


The owner smiled reassuringly. Mina failed to be reassured, even though she had not seen anyone actually die yet. This woman *was* familiar, in some way. It was unsettling.


My, but she was beautiful though!


"You can relax, Billie. I'm not going to fire you. Just a little feedback, for the future. I'm sure we're going to get along just fine with a little communication."


"I'll do my best!" Mina squeaked, feeling like the mouse the catgirl Minyang was always comparing her to. Rebelling against this tendency, she managed, "Are you really going to change them back?"


Laylah laughed. "Of course! They'll cool down eventually, and in the meantime word can spread about what happens to people who can't behave themselves. I'll probably replace them with suitable lookalikes, to keep the message fresh."


*But what about all the things they said?* Mina wanted to ask, but the woman was talking again before she could get up her nerve.


"Is there a problem with your eye? I don't mean to pry, but our medical plan has options which most insurers--"


"Her eye is fine. Please excuse her." Leda said, striding up hurriedly. "Mina, take it off."


She obeyed, trepidatiously. Laylah, observing, folded her arms, her face blank. Leda continued,


"She came in like this and I didn't have time--"


"Why?" asked Laylah.


"I--I wanted to hide my identity from the customers. They can be... well, you know... and I just..."


"And you decided to use the Mask Principle to your advantage, despite being a civilian." Laylah said flatly. Then she broke into a delighted smile. "What a wonderful idea! Someone should have thought of it a long time ago. It certainly would have reduced our turnover rate."


"It's... all right that she does this?" Leda asked, still, to Mina's somewhat familiar eye, on edge.


"Oh, yes. Although there should be a formal policy in the future. Forms to fill out, official approval before the new public identity can be adopted, everything on record. I'll leave that to you, Leda. For now, why don't you look in that cabinet at the end of the shelf there, Mina. There should be some fish food."


Mina unfroze. The woman's use of her real name startled her a little. "Y--yes ma'am!" She hurried off, in great relief.


"Leda," said the overboss, watching as the girl hurried away. "Tell me about Mina."


Leda was also feeling a little relieved, although she would not be able to relax fully until her mistress had left the store. "Mina Westing. She started working for us... a few months back. I'd have to check the records. She's quick witted, as you've seen, but she keeps her head down when she's behind the counter. Very polite to customers. They seem not to wish for her violent death."


"I see," the other woman mused, "Westing... Is she married? Any children?"


A slight, imperceptible shudder went through Leda. "No. Neither."


"Ah," said Laylah, shaking her platinum head as if to dismiss a thought. "Well. Keep an eye on her. She'll do well here, or she'll meet a bad end. But then again, don't they all?"


*****


"BWAHAHAHAHAAAAHHAHAHAHAH!"


"OOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHHOHOHOHOHOHOHHOHO!"


"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"


The last wail had come not from the maniacal laugh-off in the parking lot, which Mina was trying to film, but from the other end of the phone conversation she was trying to have at the same time. Why did this spontaneous display of villainous rivalry have to break out just as she was trying to make a rather risky phone call? At least the renovation had included a stairway to a small dining are on the roof, meant for the comfort of customers with bulky flying suits but currently unoccupied except for a barista on her break.


"Youuu have adequate food alrrready," she heard Inayya say to someone. "And your own hunting skills. Mina." The catgirl's voice became clearer as she returned to phone conversation. "I haave answers to your questions. But not forrr the phone. Murr and Eh'n will retrieve youu tonight. Be rready."


"Wait--but--" the girl sputtered. Too late. The call was ended.


"NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"


"EXPLOSIO!"


"Explosio, no!"


The last was a chorus of yells as Explosio exploded. Mina watched as the fireball erupted upwards, splashing harmlessly against the building's magical defenses without so much as heating up the air. When the smoke cleared, she saw the pavement blackened and competing supervillains singed and dazed but physically intact. Upgraded defenses, indeed. Explosio was nowhere to be seen, and she wondered if he would have more trouble reconstituting himself this time.


Mina sighed in disappointment, turning to head back in. The contest looked like it was over, and besides, she didn't want to be seen witnessing a villain's humiliation.


*****


That evening:


"We're herrrrrre," the black catgirl in the driver's seat announced.


"You *hf* can *ha* get off *uh* me now." Mina told the white catgirl sitting in her lap, obscuring her visual field and much of her oxygen supply with her round furry body.


"Brrrr." replied the catgirl chirpily, leaping off her and out of the van, and knocking Mina's wind completely out in the process. Mina, wheezing, could see her saunter off, tail high in the air. She wondered if whatever Inayya had to tell her in person was worth the bizarre security measures required.


She wondered if she would ever get all this cat hair out of her clothes.


As she stumbled from the vehicle, she spotted Inayya coming towards her, absent her headscarf but wearing a modest dress. A quick look around the garage showed the absence of Minyang, Inayya's more vehement counterpart. Mina let herself relax slightly, though she was still aware of the presence of her emergency laser pointer in her pocket..


"Wwwwelcome," Inayya said, ears forward. She stopped in front of Mina, sniffing the air slightly. This, the girl knew, was another evaluation, the... third of the day? Fourth? She probably still smelled like coffee. "Yyou still work at that plaace. With supervillains. Mmm, dangerous. Yourrr encounters with Elemental? Mmore dangerous still."


"That," said Mina, "was not my idea. She keeps coming to me!"


"Sshhe does that," the tabby said, wryly. "Waalk with me." She turned about, leaving Mina to follow her deep into the old laboratory complex that made up the catgirls' lair. Looking through open doors they passed, she caught glimpses of catgirls engaged in various activities: catgirls wrestling, catgirls napping, catgirls tinkering with various devices, catgirls staring into apparently blank space and wailing, catgirls performing a number of "hygienic" acts upon themselves and each other. The resulting noises were, in aggregate, rather soothing, and Mina soaked in the sounds for a while before bringing herself to speak again.


"Does she visit you, too?"


"Onnce upon a time. I thought her a djinnia. I had been told stories about themmm, powerful beings that are neither angels nor demons. I knew little about the world then, and the sheeeeer variety of creatures in it! I trried to fit her into a type I could nnname. Nnnaive of me... djinni are elemenntals of fire, the onnne substance ouuur Elemental can't master. Still, she founnd my classification amusing."


"Oh!" Mina hardly knew where to start asking questions. "Maow said--"


"Maow. Who visited your city of mmmagic and decided to ssstay." The furry woman gave a resigned sigh, and continued: "I do nnnot interfere with my sisssters. It would be... counterproductive. This is my room."


She stopped in front of a door, opening it into a room about the size of Mina's tiny apartment. Open wooden boxes of various sizes and shapes were scattered about, and Mina could see blankets, pillows and assorted bedding inside. There was a desk against one wall, with an old-looking computer on it and some papers and notebooks in neat stacks. Shelves on the far wall were filled with books. In one corner was a prayer rug. Inayya closed the door behind them, and retrieved two bottles of water from the refrigerator. "Humannn suitable snacks are on that table," she said, gesturing to a pile of Chia Pest Chia Power bars. "Please haave a seat."


Mina looked around the room. For a moment her eye fell upon the lone office chair in front of the desk. Then she rejected this coward's option. Hadn't she always wanted to know what the appeal was? So she kicked off her sandals and stepped into a box that looked roughly Mina-sized, curling her legs up and adjusting a pillow against her back. The walls of the box came up to about her shoulder blades. Inayya gave a pleased sounding noise, springing lightly into a nearby box and settled in facing Mina, as close as if they had been seated on either side of a coffee table.


"With Elemental..." she murmured, her tail waving slowly, "Wherrre to begin...?


"It was yearrs ago... I had just found Minyang, and together we came back and rrallied the others... Wwwe took our freedom and whenn it was all over this plaace, too, was ours. It was the onnnly place that was ours, the onnnly way we could survive, but we didn't know if we could keep it. After all the blood, youu see.


"I retreated to this room... I wannted to ask for guidance, to ask if wwwe had done right. To prrray, in other words. Ah, lllook at that face! You find it straange. Don't trrry to deny it! She did, too..."


*****


Years ago...


Inayya's hair began to rise up an instant before it began.


{You do believe, so let us pray

For all those fools that be...}


She jerked, her reverie shattered by the musical interruption. No catgirl could sing like this, but it was not some kind of recording being played by a hidden device. Her senses warned of intrusion, here in this freshly conquered haven! She scanned the room frantically for the trespasser, hissing.

{Fool, kneel for me again

I am your destiny, walk--}


"Back, mmmmminion of Sssshaitan T. Iblis Jonnnnnes!" Inayya wailed. Above, floating near the ceiling, was a faintly glowing form, from which these mocking verses emerged. She unconsciously dug her claws into the beautiful prayer mat given to her as a parting gift by her human benefactors. She must recite verses, but they had all fled from her mind! Her humans would be disappointed in her...


The glowing form floated backwards, then to the side. Inayya followed it with her eyes, determined not to be taken by surprise again. "You really can see me," said the demon after a moment, "even in my air elemental form."


"God haaas openned mmmmy eyes!"


"Has he? Good for you, getting something out of all this worshiping. In my opinion," the demon said thoughtfully, "people take gods much too seriously. It's all hymns and prayers and then you get sick and die, or crushed by a cathedral sized hunk of rock, or something. You can't rely on gods unless you can get them on paper, and I *don't* mean holy books."


"You arrrrre a devil!"


The glowing form drifted down until it appeared to be sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Inayya. "I'm not! I am very evil, but as a free agent."


"Are youuu here to tesssst mmmmy faith? Orrrr to punissssh me for sssssshedding the bllllood of mmmmmy creatorsss?"


"Shedding blood? Oh, you mean the people in this building. No, they were all perverts and they deserved to die." the figure said matter-of-factly. "As for faith, I have to ask. Why would a cat follow a human religion?" The figure cocked its head in what seemed to be genuine curiosity, "Why worship a god who would be angry at you for taking what is yours?"


Inayya stared past the intruder for a moment. "*Waaaas* it ouuurrrrsss? You ssssssound like Minyyyyang. Ssssshe turnsss to violennnccce ssssso easily."


"Minyang? She's the one with one eye, right? She could see me too! But she just hissed and shrieked and tried to claw me..."


"Sssshe is ffffearrrful... sellllfish..."


"You didn't ask to be made. You really didn't ask to be made a member of a genetically engineered slave race, I think, so you're owed something, and you were strong enough to take it, so... It's yours, no matter how you slice it! Don't know if this dump was worth it though."


"It'sssss the onnnnly place we can make mmmmmmmore of ourrrrrrr kind..."


"You want to make more?"


"Offfff course!" Inayya straightened from her battle-ready crouch. This was one area in which she agreed wholeheartedly with Minyang. "We'rrrre beautiful, and therrrre should be mmmmore of us! Free, *nnnnnot* slaves."


"I agree! I'm glad you're not all about 'oooh we're abominations we shouldn't exist'. Too many people waste time on angst!"


"Wwwwe are catgirlsss! Wwwwwwe do nnot angssssst!" Inayya said proudly.


"Why get into religion if you don't like angst and shame?" the figure asked slyly, expecting to score a point.


Inayya would not play along. "Mmmmmy humans. Theeey took me innnn... showed me a nnnnnew way... to be mmmmmmore than annnnn annnnnimal." She looked at the intruder speculatively. Those same humans had told her a story of the Prophet converting a djinn to the faith, so they should welcome nonhumans, from aliens to extradimensional creatures to scientific creations. This was why they had taken Inayya in, despite her unnatural origin and shameful purpose. This creature, though mocking and blasphemous, did not seem hostile. Perhaps... "Mmmmmy name is Inayya. What is yyyyours?"


The figure considered for a moment, glowing tendrils floating around its head like human hair. "Elemental. I'm Elemental."


*****


Mina listened from her comfortable box as Inayya told her story, and resisted the urge to interrupt with questions. She, too, had wondered how the feline woman had gotten religion. Now she had more to wonder about; the catgirl who had fled this place and lost her only companion, the Muslim humans who had befriended her, why she came back, how she reconciled her faith with companions who (with the notable exception of exceptional Maow (and, Mina granted, maybe some of the others too)) seemed determined to remain animalistic cannibals. But she didn't know if it would be polite to ask for more personal information than was given freely. Besides, she hadn't come here to learn about Inayya. So when a pause in the narrative--accompanied by a gaze into empty space--presented itself, she asked: "Are you still in contact with her?"


The feline eyes slanted back over towards her. "Nnnnnno. But, she visited me severrral more times. We talked... argued. She waaas a most persistent infidel. She tried various ways to tempt me--do you know how hard it is to keep halal as an obligate carnivore? But I was perrrsistent, too... Tell me, Mmina, do you have faith?"


"I... wouldn't call myself an atheist..." This was true. It was difficult to be an atheist in a world that had been invaded at various times by a pantheon's worth of gods and devils.


Inayya looked at her for a moment and Mina squirmed, judged. "Merely currrrious. I will not try to convert you. I learrrned that lesson quite a while ago." She gave a short trill of amusement. "Yoou cannot perrrsuade anyone after they have wwwalked away from you in annnnnoyance. Sommmetimes, after a swat in the face."


"Elemental swatted you in the face?" Mina asked, startled. For some reason, she couldn't picture it. Or at least, she couldn't picture Inayya still having a face afterwards.


"Nnno. Minyang. That is why I try to lead my sisters by exammmple instead."


"Oh. I did wonder. But Elemental..."


"Preferrrred mockery. Always impudent, sometimes sympathetic. Never fully sure why she came to me. Perhaps she was lonely."


"How did you get her to finally leave?"


"Mmmm... I didn't mmmean to."


*****


{Burnt out ends of smoky days

The stale cold smell of morning

A street lamp dies, another night is over

Another day is dawning}


Inayya put her ears back to acknowledge that she had heard. Elemental liked to announce her presence by singing songs. She always seemed to expect Inayya to know the music, and acted amused when she did not. Then, perhaps, the baffling observation that Inayya would only find something called 'Broadway' sinful anyways. And from there they might discuss many topics and then perhaps, just perhaps if they were both in the mood, a little bit of scratching behind the ears.


But Inayya was not in the mood for such games today.


"Pierrre Opensssssstein."


The singing stopped. "Pardon?"


"Lllllllleticia Donnnnnzziger. Gerda Hammersssssschmidt. Carrrl Cuzzzco."


"...Oh...."


Inayya turned to face her visitor. A few old papers swirled to the floor beneath the glowing figure, she noted, indicating that Elemental had been about to assume a solid form before retreating back to her airy state. Ashamed to make a face to show, perhaps? Or simply startled, and trying to think of a response?


"Annnnd there are morrrre. Ccccity couuunncil memmmbers, librrrarians, bureaucrats, sssscientists, even a cop orrrr two. All nnnnoted for honesty and righteousness. All died in their sleep. Within the last five years. From carbon monoxide or other, unknown causes."


"I have no idea what any of this has to do with anything." the spirit said, with a stiffness Inayya had never heard from her before. "Everyone has to die at least once. At least these were painless deaths."


"Artie Treflair, exposed the dumping of toxic energy drink waste in the Everglades--"


"He did?!?"


Inayya did not respond to the interruption, but she took note of it. "--died mysteriously while working on a new story. Something about a corrupt politician? Never know, now. Left a wife and baby. Funny thing. All the monoxide deaths lived alone. Otherwise, a more precise method?"


"It would be sloppy to kill extras..." The glowing figure appeared to shake her head, radiant locks flying. "Where did you get all this?"


"Wwwwwe have beennn invesssssstigating." In fact, their inquiries had been seeded and spurred by a strange anonymous letter... but there was no need to mention that just yet.


"I see."


"Isssssss that allll you havvvve to sssay?" Inayya could feel her tail lashing under her dress, knew Elemental could probably see it, didn't care at the moment.


"What else should I say? I didn't ask for your opinion and I don't have to explain anything!"


"But yyyyyou sssay a painnnless deatttth is good? You knnnnow this issss wickednessssss!"


"I told you from the start I was evil! And what's your problem anyway?" Elemental demanded, her own anger showing at last. "You believe there's a heaven where good people go. So do I--in fact I do more than believe! I *know*."


Inayya's fur lifted as a chill ran down her spine. Was this why God required so much faith? Because the proven existence of Heaven would create monsters like this one? "Wwwwhat about thossse they lllleft behind? Wwwhat about ttthhe good thesssse people wwwwere doinnng in *thissss* worrrrlld? They wwwere nnnnneeded! Yyyou had nnnnno rrright to their llllives!"


"Oh, for-- What has right got to do with anything? I thought you'd-- Aren't you a natural predator? Didn't you kill when you claimed this as your home? Did you complain when my killing helped you? Don't some of your sisters literally eat people?!"


Inayya flinched. "I... Onnnly the unrighteous... thisss is differennnt... we hhhaad to free our sisterrrs...  yyyyou don't even know why you killed these sssllleeping people, do you..."


"Oh, it's different because you feel like you have to justify yourself. Ugh. Well I don't! I'm a professional! I have a whole existence and ambition that has nothing to do with you because it's *my* *business*!" Elemental made a slashing motion with one 'hand', sending a ripple of air through the room. "I've heard enough about this!"


"Yet I cannnnnn't keep silent. Whennn you have killed warriors, yyyyou bragged. Yyyyoou enjoyed it. Tttthhat's how I can tell you do nnnnot enjoy the mmmmmurder of helpless sleepers--"


"No? Maybe you're right. I'll have to work on that!"


Inayya shook her head, determined to ignore this bait. "You do nnnnot lack a connnnscience--you have frrree will, like a true djinnnnnia. You choose to come hhhhere, to me--"


"Because you're a fun distraction! Or you were..."


"--when you knnnow what I wwwwwwant is to mmmmake the world better! Forrr my sisters, for mmmmy humans, for everyone! You trrrry to help! You are nnnnnot beyond redemption!"


In retrospect, Inayya thought she should have cut out that last line.


"'Redemption?' According to *who*? You? Who has to fight her wiser nature every day to fit a mold never made for her? Some ancient grifter or other, selling their idea of heaven in exchange for groveling conformity? I don't need to get into any heaven, I'm past all that! And maybe it's time I was past you, too."


It may have been that the sting of these words left room for nothing else, or It may have been a measure of Inayya's complacency that she never felt afraid for an instant at this moment. But if so, that complacency was well earned, for Elemental never struck out at her as she slid up into the ceiling and was gone.


*****


The Present



Mina sat, digesting Inayya's story along with a Blueberry and Blue Chia Antediluvian Supergrain Chia Pest brand granola bar. She turned it around in her head, along with the many questions it had provoked within her. Eventually she settled on one which seemed tactically important, without being too personal. She tried to focus on it, to formulate the right wording.


She opened her mouth to ask for the goods, but unfortunately what popped out was: "Do you miss her?"


As Mina waited, fidgeting with the edge of her box and hoping her question hadn't been too intimate, Inayya took a moment to ponder, her eyes distant. Finally, she responded in a calm, unoffended tone, "Sommmetimes. I have morrre peace of mind wwwithout her, and nnno lack of compannnionship. I have my sisterrrs, after all, and my humans arrre less... contentious conversational parrrtners. And yet you are not wrrrong... she could be thrrrrilling. Our discussionnns sharpened my wwwits, and her singing... wwwell. She had reason for prrride there."


"But you wouldn't want her to come back?" The minute it entered her mind, Mina wondered if that was what Inayya wanted her to use her boon for.


"Mmmm. I don't knnnnow. Depends on the cirrrcumstances. I was rrright to be angry. Annnd I fear her corrrrrrosive effect on some of my younnnger sisters. From what you say she has not changed." She said sadly.


"Oh. But then why did you want to tell me all this? Do you have any clue about her true name?"


"Elemental is dangerous. More even to your sssoul than body, perhaps. I would be rrremiss if I didnnn't tell you what I knew. As for her true nnname... I nnnever suspected she mmmight have been human once. A blinnnd spot in me? I have little enough experience nnnow, and less then. She gave no clues I could connnnect to a human life. I no longer thinnnk she is a djinnnnia, and I still doubt she is a true demon. If she wwwere, then a search for her nnname would take you nnnnowhere you want to go. But a ghhhost who remained at home in the mmmaterial world might wwwell decide she need not concerrrn herself with any afterlife."


Mina nodded glumly. No new leads there, then. But... "What about that letter you got, telling you about her crimes? Did you ever find out who sent that?"


"Nnno. I--we did look. Here," and Inayya leapt out of her box as gracefully as she has jumped in. She walked over to the desk and retrieved a red envelope in a ziplock bag. It looked very official-police-investigation, although the police probably wouldn't have chewed on the bag. Or its contents. "You mmmay handle it. You see Mmmmiette has already had a taste."


Mina tried to be careful anyway as she removed the envelope, recoiling a little at a faint smell.


"A Phootmail deliverrry boy left it at the door. Although the Phootmail database showed nnnno record of the delivery..."


"Phootmail let you see their database?"


Inayya gave her an almost insulted look. "Mmmany hackers are catgirls. Mmmany catgirls, thereforrre, are hackers. To continue. It was scented with stinnnking carcass, I suspect to make sure it was found."


"Or the delivery boy could have just been delivering stinking carcass topped pizza..."


"Innndeed. But if so, someone ordered it wwwithout tomato sauce. There wwwas a scent of smoke, also... Slight, but I wwwould know it again. The ennnvelope is from a place called "Hallmark Store," which I ammm told is a common establishment. No fingerprints."


Mina almost asked if they had taken it to the police, but decided that would be a stupid question. Instead she pulled the card out of the envelope and opened it. On the inside, a sad cartoon zebra consoled her for "the failure of her wicked plot" and wished her better luck in future scheming. On the blank side was written "Ask your friend Elemental about these:" followed by a list of names in small, neat handwriting.


She slipped her phone out and snapped a picture. "I recognize one of these! Patrick Fantail is the civilian identity of The Effervescent Snail, out of Tampa. The police found out after he died... peacefully..." She trailed off. "I wonder if there are any more local superguys in here..."


Inayya tilted her head. "I don't knnnow... They found ouuut about Fantail because he llleft a costume and gadgets behinnd. Therrre could be others... We didn't lllook into anything further thannn the deaths themselves, nor do we know how commmplete is that list."


"It's definitely not complete," said Mina, "she still kills people." One of those killings had contributed an unwelcome sound effect to the audio catalog of Mina's subconscious: a crunch combined with a splash. Or a splash with a crunch? A splashcrunch? She giggled, shuddering at the same time.


"It wwwas too much to hope for that she had stopped." Inayya sighed. "We shall perrrrhaps see an updated list, if you rrrreceive a similar letter. If you choose to share it..."


"Oh, I will. Maybe the person who sent it knows her name." Mina thought for a moment. "When she said she killed for you. Was this some kind of--of boon? Did you make a wish?"


"Wwishes again... No. It wwwas a favor, unasked and unnncompensated. Years ago, the orrriginal owwwners of this place sent a merrrcenary force to rrreclaim it. Elemental annnnnihilated the soldiers, then ssshowed me what she had done. And nnnno, I did not protest. Perrrhaps I should have? But they wwwould have driven us away, killed mmmany of my sisters, and wwwe made good use of the gear they llleft behind."


"A grrrreat favorrrrrrr frommmm an ally wwwe wwwwould still hhaaave," a new voice said as the door slammed open, "ifffff it hhhhhadn't been for *ssssssssomeone's* ffffffooolish attaaachment to idiooootic hhhuuuuman morallllss!"


"Minyang!" Mina exclaimed, for it was indeed the fearsome one eyed battle commander -- or as close as catgirls could come to having a commander, anyway. "You also saw Elemental, right?"


"Brrrrrmmmm... yyyyyyes." The question took much of the bluster out of the savage cat barbarian, who broke eye contact and stared out the window. Mina remembered being told that Elemental had approached Minyang first, and been hissed at. The embarrassed body language of the catgirl would seem as much confirmation of that fact as Mina dared ask for.


Inayya looked at her comrade calmly. "You have been lllistening out there for some time. Thoughts?"


"Jusssssssssssst gave them." Minyang said sullenly.


"And I haaave taken notice. But perrrhaps you would lllike to add some advice for our frrriend here?"


Minyang gave a growl deep in her throat. Then she turned her single eye on Mina.


"If you arrrrrrrrre a frrrrriend? Tellllll her, blllllood and hhhhorror fffffor the oppressssssssssors! Prrrrrotect the wwwwwwwild ttthhhhings of the eaaaarth! Sssssmasssssh the enginnnnnnes of desssssstruction! Iffff she will nnnnot... punish her. Humiliate her. Fffffor she rejjjjected my ssssister."


Mina looked back and forth between the two cat women. Inayya stared at her sister, eyes wide, astonished for the first time Mina had seen.


"Wwwwwwwwell," she said finally. "I advise, make her rrright some wrrrong. But this will be up to you, Mmmina."


Mina nodded, a little heartened by the display of solidarity between the two normally opposed sister-catgirls. She still didn't know what she would ask, or where lay the limits of what would be granted. She wasn't sure if she still wanted the creature to leave her alone. Certainly it didn't seem worth wasting a boon for. What, then? Her mind swirled with questions... Why had Elemental approached Inayya before, and why was she approaching Mina now? How was she deciding who to try to befriend, and who to murder in her sleep? What kind of mixed up person behaves like this, anyway?


(Continued in Part 3...)

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